Heh, one can say that this was never a strong suit of theirs. At least they are trying to add decent female NPCs (personality wise) the last couple of games and we have to grant them that…

I think exploration and atmosphere are up to their old standards (I played a couple of hours more than you and I am generally satisfied by what I saw). NPC character and dialogues seem actually improved this time around which is nice.

My main concern now is Map size. I know we will be able to return to previous locations via Ship but if the rest of the locations are modestly sized then the open world character of the game (and thus exploration) will be seriously compromised I am afraid.